Question of the Week: 28 - 2/12/2001Where Did You Get Your Magickal Name?The tradition of taking on a magickal name is an old one in many Pagan paths. Once used to protect themselves and their covenmates or to create equality among members, magickal names are now often individually chosen to reflect or project certain traits, pantheonic allegiances or just because it sounds cool. How did YOU get your magickal name? What is the story behind it, the meaning of it and the reason that it was either given to you or you chose it?

you may think this weird, but I got my name from a bad poem attempt and my agnostic boyfriend. we were sitting outside on a night near the full moon, and we like to stretch our minds by spontaneously making poems. I always found the moon inspiring to me, the several aspects of the Goddess and its beautiful light, and I always observe the full and new moons.. is impulsive for me.

anyways one of the first lines that came to my head was "listen to the moon's song"

the poem fizzled from there, but one thing that stood out to me for a while afterward was the comment my love made after that line. he said "honey I always do, you are a living moonsong to me" (awwww isn't that sweet??)

before that I had began searching for a magical name, and that one just wouldn't leave me alone from then on.

The story of my magickal name is a simple one. I was looking through a book on magickal names and saw Cinder, which almost everyone knows is a fire word and represents a lively personality. That word then struck a cord in me like it was my name but it didnt feel whole like a part was missing. Then one day i was standing outside a cool breeze went by and i semislowly closed my eyes to enjoy the breeze for it was a hot day, and then i saw it an american bald eagle flew by in my minds eye and then landed thats when i knew my name Cindereagle, but still it didnt seem right then i found out another pronunciation of my birth name which i love ian which used to be owen, finaly my name seems whole Owen Cindereagle

My Pagan/Heathen name is Aedh Rua. It is Gaelic, clearly, and means something like "Red Fire", though Rua is only one of the two words for red. By the way, it is pronounced "AY-uh ROO-uh". Rua means fiery red, as distinct from Derg, which means blood red. Rua generally has connotations of life, power, and vitality. I got the name while meditating, as many no doubt have.

I had gone by the name Gwydion, a name which I picked only because it "sounded neat". During the time I called myself Gwydion, I evolved toward a more and more traditional Gaelic religious framework, though I was still pretty far from my current practice. Eventually, the name just didn't fit any longer. I no longer identified with it, and knew it had little to do with who I really was. I wanted to pick a new name, something more traditionally Irish or Scottish, which reflected where and who I was. I meditated and asked the Gods I worship for a new name. The result was Aedh, a name I barely recognized. After some more meditation, taking only a couple days, the second element, Rua, was added.The name does seem to suit my personality, and my natural affinity for fire.I have had it for almost ten years, now, and it really is my name, at least in emotional terms. Legally, I still use my mundane name, for security purposes.

What I didn't know when I got the name was that it had been borne by an Irish king/local deity. Aedh Rua was a king who shared rule over Ireland with his two brothers, at least so it is told in Dindsenchas. Eventually, after a very long, fruitful reign, he drowned in a spring/waterfall, which was named Ess Ruaidh (Rua's Spring) in his honor. In time, he became the patron deity of this spring, which I gather still exists under the name Essroe.

As I say, at the time I got the name, I knew none of this. It does make one wonder...

My magickal name just kind of hit me. I first heard the name when I was a little girl and watched Sleeping Beauty. I had always liked the name Aurora but it was always just there in the back of my mind, not something I thought about but it was not until I decided to embrace paganism and I was sitting down and thinking of a name that it popped up in my mind. It just seemed to fit so well. To me it symbolized a new begining, the "dawning" of a new era in my life. Since Aurora means light or dawn it just just seemed right. And it also reminded me of a time of innocence in my life when everything was pure and new ans the most tiny things amazed me. The last part Firelight was inspired by the fact that I love the light from candles and fire and also from my sometimes firey temper. To some people their magickal names might be a mask of sorts but to most I think, it is a source of pride and a part of their connection to the God and Goddess. I know some who infact have more than one magickal name and have one in particular that they only share with the God and Goddess.

Bongiorno! I Have Changed My "outer Court" Craft Name Three Times Now...

Feb 13th. at 6:13:01 am UTC

Filomena Sophia (Duluth, Minnesota US)

Age: 30

bongiorno! i have changed my "outer court" craft name three times now. (i use outer court with quotes coz i'm solitary so don't really have a court to speak of).anyhoo, when i first came out of my coccoon, i was butterfly. then i began looking for a more human name, so i took our my character naming sourcebook and settled on simona, which means "one who hears." this was perfect coz i had discovered that i was clairaudient. later i added the warrior name of elda. this served me well for quite awhile, until i made a spiritual connection with my paternal grandfather.now i take on the feminine form of his name: filomena. i also added the name of a neopolitan witch from the fourteenth century who was purported to have been a follower of aradia's. her name was sophia, which was perfect, since i also have an ancestor with that name (tho slightly different spelling.) i feel this new name will serve me well for a long time. it is mena for short, and i've already had people in my "other" family tell me that it fits me and rolls off the tongue well.thank you and namaste all!mena

I Laugh When I Think Of How I Got My Name. At...

Feb 13th. at 10:31:31 am UTC

Tanais (Spokane, Washington US)

Age: 20

I laugh when I think of how I got my name. At the time I wasn't even looking for it. I just went to bed one night and the name Tanais kept ringing in my ear. The next night I had a dream where everyone was calling me Tanais. I still to this day don't know what it means except for a vague reference to the celtic thunder god Taranis. Just goes to show sometimes things just come when we don't expect.

My magickal name is still in the works.I have a hard time finding something that feels like me. I had started out by using 'Ivy' as my magickal name. My favorite comic book character is Poison Ivy and people used to joke about how I seemed to like plants more than people. (My flat looks like a jungle). My initial plan was to use Ivy and then trace my maternal lineage as far back as I can and use that last name. I liked the name so much it's become the name i use for everything, and even though means a lot to me, it no longer feels as appropriate as a magickal name.I recently went on a search for a new name. I'm not altogether finished, but I have come up with (another plant) Narcissus. Daffodils are my favorite flower and always bloom on my birthday at the house I grew up in. I haven't seen them bloom on my birthday in four years, since I left for college. Currently i'm using A'dee-dee-dee as the second portion to my magickal name. It's the sound a chickadee makes when singing. My mother used to call my brother and I 'my little chickadee' so it seems appropriate.

I Found My Name Mainly Through A Combination Of Brainstorming, Meditation, And...

I found my name mainly through a combination of brainstorming, meditation, and probably some sheer randomness. I was trying to find something which says a lot about me without becoming too large, tongue-twisting, or blatantly absurd. Eventually I gave up on it for a while and decided to head off to the botanical gardens (at that point, just down the street) to dance my totem, just because it felt like a good time to do so.

About halfway there, I started thinking about it again, and it suddenly hit me: Clearwater. And it just felt right. I said it to myself, and right then it rained for a few seconds, one of those brief summer showers that cools you off rather than soaking you to the bone. Needless to say, I took the hint.

I've always felt a deep connection to water (despite being an Aires), especially when it's flowing quickly or in a mountain pool; both of which are often crystal clear. Personality-wise, I tend to go with the flow of things, am fairly slow to anger, and generally tent to aviod obstacles rather than plowing headlong into them. Plus I'm about the only one of my friends who will step back from a problem or arguement to get a clear picture of the various factors creating the compication.

Interestingly enough, Clearwater is also the translation of my mother's maiden name, something which I didn't know until she told me recently.

My magical name just sort of came to me. While I was preparing for initiation in my coven, I was told that I needed to pick one and that the traditional way to do so in that coven was to use Buckland's numerology technique (I don't remember the formal name). I'd already been half-joking about what it would probably be but, when I "ran the numbers", it fit perfectly. So I adopted it without further thought.The odd thing about the name is that, counting me, there are 7 people on the planet who know what my magical name is. I never use it for anything public, and rarely even use it in a circle or other ritual work. It certainly doesn't show up as a screen name. To me, it is an intensely personal name, one that I chose because it described who and what I am. In this case, I feel that the name truely is the thing; as a result, I don't trivialize it.

Well, I chose my magickal name after a lot of consideration. My public magickal name is Dyana MoonRose. I chose this name for the Goddess Diana. I have always liked the name Diana, and it seemed to pull to me more so than the others I had to choose from. MoonRose obviously represents the Moon and a White Rose *which are my favorite*. I chose that name to inspire a closer connection with the Goddess. The name has worked well for me and I think it helped me begin my journey.

I never really thought about magickal names becoming a screen name. It is something to think about. Most pagans who know me from the internet know me as both my public magickal name and my real name. Perhaps I am becoming one of the exceptions.

I started the choice for my magical name by making it more difficult than it really needed to be. I started by listing different animals and nouns, then trying to put them together in forms that seemed to me to fit. But none ever did. By the time I gave up on that, I had a two page list of names I had rejected. One night, while standing in the outside it came to me, Ravenwind.

I have always liked the Raven, it is a very symbolic bird. And I have felt a connection to the wind most of my life. I love to stand outside and listen to the voice of the wind. It is my way of communing with the Goddess. I can hear the music of her voice in the wind, the caress of her touch in the breeze upon my skin. The shout of her anger in the storm. The wind is like her, strong and gentle, neither bad nor good. It just is. I believe that that night, she whispered my name to me on the breeze.

My magickal name came from my heritage, who I am. My ancestors are originally from the Isle of Skye, my element is Air and my totem is the wise mother magpie. So I adopted the name Skye and when I am around pagan folk it is what I am called by. However when I am in circle I use my Celtic magickal name which is Kyna Aaid - It means wise Magpie, which is along the same lines. I also have a private name, sent to me one magickal Esbat night in a grove in the forest. I didn't know what it meant initially and after some reseach found it's meaning which ironically is not far off from my other two:)

My mate Earthwolf of thirteen years this February 23rd, and I are finally getting handfasted this July 5 on the Full Blessing Moon and will be legally incorporating our magickal names to blend with our "mundane". *Grin*

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